Merkel victory in doubt after left-wing surge in regional elections

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Germany’s lacklustre national election campaign was thrown open last night when left-wing parties made a surprise surge in two key regional states.

Early results from elections in Thuringia and Saarland showed that Chancellor Angela Merkel will face a much stronger opposition than expected in the general election. Political pundits had assumed that Ms Merkel would be a shoo-in on September 27 and that she was poised to rule Germany with a coalition of Christian Democrats and the small, pro-business Free Democrats.

But her Christian Democrat Party was hit hard by voters in what seemed to be a general protest against